Shuttle for wire-weaving looms



Nov. 6, 1951 c. F. WlCKWlRE SHUTTLE FOR WIRE-WEAVING LO0MS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Oct. 18, 1949 Fi(5.3 3 455 k 3nventor ChesirerF. Wickwire (Ittornegs c. F. WICKWIRE SHUTTLE FOR WIRE-WEAVING LOOMS Nov 6, 1951 Filed Oct. 18, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET Snnentor heskerF. Wickwire Patented Nov. b, 1951 SHUTTLE FOR WIRE-WEAVING LOOMS I Chester F. Wi'ckwire, Homer, N. Y;, assignor to Wickwire Brothers, Inc., Cortland, N. Y., a-corporation of New York Application October 18, 1949, SerialNo. 121,931

. 8 Claims.

This invention relates tothe weaving of wire fabrics and particularly to a shuttle for use in wire-weaving looms.

In an application for patent Serial No. 88,175 filed April 21, 1949., I describe a shuttle for such use having a take-up mechanism inthe form of a flyer. The bobbin or spool which holds the wire is removably mountedin the body ofjthe shuttle, but the flyer is mounted in that body in such a Way as not to be readily removable. Hence. threading operations must be performed after the bobbin is mounted in the body, and. this involves some inconvenience.

According to the present invention, the support for the flyer is removably mounted in the hub of the bobbin, so that threading operations are greatly simplified because the flyer and bobbin are withdrawn from andinserted into the shut tle body. asa-unit, andwhen. withdrawn may be separated. I

This is the primary advantage, butthere are mechanical details of substantial importance which are disclosed hereinafter, and. which can be more compactly incorporated where the support is mounted in the hub of the bobbin. Ifdesired. the familiar dragging spring shown in my application above identified may be used, or al.- ternatively a functionally similar springenclosed in the housing may be connected with a brake shoe whose braking action is adjustable. In another alternative construction a. similar. adjustable brakeshoe may be functionally related to an externally mounted take-up spring which wholly replaces the internally mounted spring. 7

The preferred form, and both modifiedforms herein disclosed retain all the advantages characteristic of the device of my prior application.

Mechanisms embodying the novel features above outlined will now be described byv reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the complete shuttle. Fig.2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of. Fig. l, drawn on a scale larger than that of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a perspective View of the shuttle body with the bobbin, and the parts carried thereby,

Fig. 9 is a bottom view of the parts shown in Fig. 8 as they appear after removal of thebottom plate and the egress guide carried thereby.

Fig. 10 is a plan view ofv the housing and fiyer embodying a second modification in which the fiyer arm is articulated and the spring is external to the housing, instead of internal as in the other embodiments.

Fig. 11 is a section on the line H-I I of Fig; 10.

Refer first to Figs. 1' to "7 inclusive which illustrate the preferred embodiment. The body 14 of the shuttle has the usual latch-arms l5, with which the present invention is not directly concerned. The latch arms represent the shuttlecarried part of conventional means for passing the shuttle back and forth through the sheds.

As best shown in Fig. 4 the body M comprises a bottom plate IG'with a, circular seat ll partially surrounded by an upstanding shoulder or flange it. Mounted on the flange l8. areoverhanging lugs. I 9. and a latch 2! adapted to engage the lower flange of the bobbin 22 which enters into faceengagement with seat 1! and peripheral engagement with flange [8. A stud 23 on seat I! enters a hole 24 in the flange of the bobbin. (See Figs. 1, 3, 4. and 5.) As a consequence the bobbin is releasabl'y latched in a fixed position on the shuttle body l-A'.

As best shown in Figs. Band 5 the bobbin comprises a tubular hub 25 and two outwardly corr- The flyer, according to the present invention is carried by a housing 3! which is inserted into the bore of tubular hub 25. Thus a complete selfcontained unit is provided, the preferred embodiment of which is shown removed from the bobbin in Fig. 6.

The housing 3| is cylindrical and dimensioned to fill the bore of hub 25, insertion being limited by end-flange 32, and rotation being prevented by aspline 33 which enters the key-way 21. The partsare dimensioned to afford an easy push-fit. Since gravity favors maintained engagement, no latch or other retaining means is necessary, and noneis shown.

The housing 3| is counter-bored from both ends, leaving an internal annular flange, the upper face of which is shouldered to form a race for hearing balls 34 and the lower face of which is fiat and serves as the upper wall of the chamber which encloses the dragging spring. A flanged plug 35 fits the lower end of housing 3| and forms-the lower wall of the spring chamber, just mentioned. The plug is retained by set screws 36 and carries the hardened steel egress guide 31, which is pressed into a central aperture formed in the plug to receive it.

A shouldered rotor 38 turns on the bearin balls 34, about an axis coincident with the bore of guide 31 and the axis of hub 25. It is retained by a nut 39 screwed on the nipple 4| and seating against a shoulder at the base of the nipple. The nut seats freely against the lower face of the internal flange in body 3| and retains the rotor, so that it may freely rotate but cannot be withdrawn.

As best shown in Fig. 7 the nut 39 is notched at 42 to receive the hooked end of a spiral fiat spring 43 Whose outer end expands against and frictionally engages the bushing 44 which lines the periphery of the spring chamber, above mentioned. The spring is narrower thanthe axial dimension of the spring chamber, but the clearance is too small to illustrate in Fig. 3.

Alined with egress guide 31 is a bore formed axially through the rotor for passage of wire between a grooved guide pulley 45 and the egress guide. This pulley 45 receives the wire from a second grooved pulley 46 mounted in a skewed position at the end of flyer arm 41. The arm 41 extends in a generally radial direction close to the upper flange of the bobbin 22. It is attached to rotor 38 by screws 48. The skewed pulley 46 is mounted on an offset portion 49 of arm 41, so as to overhang the interval between the flanges 26 and be capable of receiving wire from, and of delivering wire back to, a wire coil between said flanges. The slot 5| is for the passage of wire between the two guide pulleys (see Fig. 2) and the fingers 52 are guards.

When wire is drawn off through egress guide 31, the arm swings around and unlays wire from the coil. At such times the tension is determined by the friction of the end of spring 43 as it slides on bushing 44 and stresses spring 43. When the wire ,slackens, as it does when the shuttle reverses, the stress on the spring swings arm 41 backward rewinding the slack on the coil. The amount of slack to be taken up is not large.

First modification, Figs. 8 and 9 In this device an adjustable disc brake replaces bushing 44 and the dragging end of spring 43.

v In Figs. 8 and 9 parts corresponding generally to parts in Figs. 3 and 7 are given the same reference numbers, increased by 100.

The spring 54, unlike spring 43 which it replaces, acts only as a spring and the bushin 44 disappears in favor of an annulus 55 of friction material which is fixed in the annular flange in housing |3| and is engaged by an annular brake shoe 56 rotatable relatively to rotor I38. Shoe 56 has an offset lug 51 pinned to one end of spring 54. A nut 58 and check nut 59 are threaded on nipple |4| and can be set to adjust the stress exerted by spring spider 6| on shoe 56. Since check nut 59 is frictionally locked to rotor I38, it is practicable and convenient to pin the inner end of spring 54 to nut 59. This is just one way of connecting spring 54 to rotor I38 and is the analogue of notch 42.

The action is essentially similar to that already described. The outer end of spring 54 drags brake shoe 56 around and the shoe offers frictional resistance, which, however, is readily adjustable. This adjustment determines the tension resisting withdrawal of wire and is useful in particular cases.

Second modification, Figs. 10 and 11 This device is similar to the first modification. Parts analogous to parts used in the preferred form or in the first modification bear numbers above 200.

In this case there is no spring within the housing and brake shoe 256 is splined to rotor 238 at 62. Instead of arm 41 and I4! the arm comprises a center disc 63 connected to the rotor 238 by screws 248 and an arm 64 hinged at 65 to the center disc 63. As viewed in Fig. 10, it can swing clockwise against the resistance of bow spring 66, through a limited angle fixed by stop 61.

Since the angle through which part 64 swings on hinge 65 is small the axis of the hinge can be offset from the axis of rotation of the parts 238 and 63 provided a little extra clearance between the arm and the periphery of flange 26 of the bobbin is present.

The operative characteristics are not materially different from those of the first modification.

All three embodiments have all the advantages of the device of my prior application plus the manipulative convenience of performing all threading operations before the bobbin and flyer are mounted in the body.

The two modifications have the feature of adjustability, and the second modification has adjustability of the brake without the manipulative inconvenience imposed by the presence of the internal spring. Actually this is negligible.

In most cases the first form is adequate, and to be preferred because it is the simplest.

The possibility of further modification within the scope of the invention is appreciated.

I claim:

1. A shuttle for wire-weaving looms, comprising in combination, a body; a bobbin removably mounted in said body and having a hub with an opening extending axially from end to end; a hollow housing removably mounted in said axial opening and having at one end an egress guide for wire and toward the opposite end a bearing for a rotary flyer; a flyer rotatable in said bearing and including an arm with wire-directing guides one of which overhangs the periphery of the bobbin and the other of which is adjacent the axis of the bobbin and is adapted to direct wire to the egress guide; and inter-related spring and brake means for resisting rotation of the flyer and for causing reverse take-up motion of the flyer, at least the brake means being within said housing, and the spring being adapted to develop a force reaction between the flyer and one element of the brake means.

2. The combination of the structure defined in claim 1 and means for adjusting the friction developed by the brake means.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the spring is of the coil type and is enclostd in said housing.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the brake means comprises a fixed element and a rotary element, and yielding means arranged to press said elements together; and the spring means takes the form of a coil mounted within said housing, and connected at its opposite ends to said fiyer and to the rotary element of the brake means respectively.

5. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the brake means comprises a fixed element and a rotary element, yielding means arranged to press said elements together and means for adjusting said yielding means to modify the friction developed thereby; and the spring means takes the form of a coil mounted within said housing, and connected at its opposite ends to said fiyer and to the rotary element of the brake means respectively.

6. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the arm of the fiyer is in two parts hinged together, and the spring reacts between said hinged parts.

7 The combination defined in claim 1 in which the shuttle body is formed with an annular seat surrounding an opening, the bobbin is constructed with spaced flanges, the periphery of one of which fits said seat, and latching means are provided to connect the periphery of said flange with said seat, the parts being so arranged that both ends of the axial opening through the hub are exposed, the egress guide is at least approximately centered in the opening in the shuttle body, and the arm of the fiyer swings adjacent that flange of the bobbin which is remote from the body.

8. A shuttle for wire-weaving looms comprising in combination a shuttle body; means for supporting an annular coil of wire in fixed position thereon; a fiyer mounted to revolve about an axis fixed relatively to said body and substantially coaxial with said coil, said fiyer including wireuiding means, one of which is substantially at the axis of revolution of the fiyer and the other of which is carried by the flyer in a path encircling said coil; a brake comprising a rotatable friction element; adjustable means for developing friction thereon to resist rotation thereof; and a spring affording a yielding connection through which said fiyer when revolved develops a rotating force on said friction element.

CHESTER F. WICKWIRE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 400,152 Wickwire et al. Mar. 26, 1889 460,723 Eisenhart Oct. 6, 1891 627,263 Heindel June 20, 1899 1,834,159 King et al Dec. 1, 1931 

